Picture and mirror holder



March 1953 c. MANCZEK ET AL PICTURE AND MIRROR HOLDER Filed July 50,1951 w wwml iln lnnnnl nl K h -HMWHWMMTHTHMH' E M A M A Patented Mar.31, 1953 PICTURE AND MIRROR HOLDER Cashman Manczek, Aberdeen, Wash., andEric K. Lotthammer, Jamaica, N. Y. said Lotthammer assignor to saidManczek Application July so, 1951, Serial No. 239,326

1 Claim. (Cl. 40 -155) T This invention relates to a support or hol fora picture or mirror;

The object of this invention is to provide a support by means of which apicture may be held and supported in proper position to be placed "on afiat surface such as a piece of furniture or .mantelpiece.

Another object of this invention is to provide "an adjustable supportwhich may be adjusted to grip and to support pictures of variousdimensions, or mirrors of corresponding dimensions, for disposition on aflat table support, or to be suitably suspended from a nail, a, bracketor molding.

, Another object of this invention is to provide a picture and mirrorholder that shall be relatively simple in construction, economical tomanufacture, and that shall be easy to apply and to remove from picturesor mirrors of different sizes. The construction and operation of the mbnation picture and mirror holder of this invention will be more readilyunderstood upon reference to the accompanying description and drawings,in which:

Fig. 1 is an elevational view of the picture holder as viewed from therear of a picture upon which the holder is welded;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the structure shown in Fig. 1 taken on thediagonal line 22 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a sectional View taken through one arm of the holder in Fig.1, taken on line 3-3 in the direction indicated;

Fig. 4 is a perspective exploded view or the locking and supportingelements of the structure at the middle of the frame;

Fig. 5 is a side elevational View of a picture or mirror element insupported position in the holder on a fiat surface; and

Fig. 6 is a front perspective View of a corner of a mirror supported bythe holder to show the manner in which one of the finger brackets gripsthe outer edge of the mirror.

As shown in Fig. 1, a picture or mirror l0, indicated in broken line forsimplicity of illustration, is held by a supporting fram or holder H ofX-shape II, consisting of four cross arms l2, l3, M and I5 respectively,each of which supports and guides an extension arm I6, [1, l8 and I9,respectively. Each of the extension arms IE to 19 inclusive, pivotallysupports a finger bracket 20 that fits over the edge of the pictur ormirror that is to be supported, and thereby serves to hold the pictureor mirror in place, between two oppositely disposed pairs of brackets20. v

The construction of the bracket 20 is shown more fully in Fig. 2, asconsisting of a body f short section having an arcuate outer surface 2I, a longitudinal slot 22 extending downwardly into the body of thebracket below an upper surface 23. The slot 22 is made wide enough toaccommodate any thickness of mirror or picture that would ordinarily beencountered, and any additional space that remains may be taken up by asuitable backing card 24 and a short filler strip 25. A short pin 26provides th pivotal connection between the bracket 20 and the supportingextension arm l8.

Once the holder is assembled on a picture or upon reference to Fig. 4.As there shown, the inner ends of the cross arms l3, l2, l4 and I5 maybe formed to embody the peripheral groove 32 to serve as seats forcorrespondingly shaped arcuate portions 33 and 34 on the flanged rims'35and 36 of two cooperating cups 3! and 38.

Two locking cups 3'! and 38 each consist of a main body portion and arim flange. Each rim flange is provided with the four out out portions33, 34, disposed at right angles, in order to permit the two cups to befitted so the cut out portions will seat in the grooves 32 at the innerends of the main arms and grip those inner ends of those main armsagainst relative rotation or displacement. Th two caps 31 and 38 areheld tightly together by a lock screw combination consisting ofinternally threaded ferrule 3i] and a small bolt 40 which threads intothe ferrule 35! and pulls it tightly to clamp the two cups 3? and 38together. Appropriately sized openings 4] and 42 are provided in the twocups 3'! and 38 to accommodate the ferrule 38 and the bolt 4i!- Aspreviously indicated, the tension spring 2i is disposed in each of theupper arms I2 and 13, with the upper end of each spring 27 anchored on alug 28 at the lower end of the extension arms I6 and H. The lower end ofeach of the two tension springs is formed into a loop is which is fittedaround the ferrule 35 and anchored thereon in order to put the springs21 under tension and the extension arms [6 and I? are pulled out farenough to enable the brackets 20 to be fitted over the upper edges ofthe picture or mirror Ill.

The adjustment of the lower extension arms 8 and I9 is achieved by meansof adjusting cords 4 and 46, the inner ends of which are secured to thlugs 28 on the inner ends of th tension arms [8 and [9 at the bottom ofthe frame. Those cords may be tied to the lugs in any suitable manner,being indicated in Fig. 2, as anchored against movement by the formationof a knot 41 at the end of the tied cord 45. p

The cap 38 is provided with two opening 48 and 49 through which the twotie cords '45 and 46 may be brought out from within thehollow arm l4 andthe bracket 38. The cup-3811s further provided with three bridging loops5|, 52 and 53, that are pressed from the base metal of the cup. The twoouter loops 5! and 53 serve to guide the two tie cords 45 and 46 afterthey exit from the cup 38. The three loops 5|, 52 and 53 then serve asretainers to receive and hold correspondingly positioned fingers 55 of abracing bracket 56 provided with an adjustable extension 5'! and alocking thumb nut 58 to permit the mirror or picture holder to beangula'rly adjusted with respect to a horizontal supporting surface 59upon which the mirror may be supported. I i v After the two tie cords 45and 46 pass upward through the guide loops 5! and '53, they extendalongthe length of the two arms I2 and 13 respectively and then throughcorresponding tunnel brackets 'BI and 62 that are respectively securedt'o their-associated arms l2 and I3 respecthreaded through the smallopening 63 or G4 in the respective tunnel brackets 61 or :62, and thenknotted, so any slack remaining in the two tie cords will be pulled backinto their respective "cro'ss'arms out of the tension of the twotensionsprings '21, which will tend to raise the two benter cups'to a higherelevation.

since various mOdifica'ItiQns may be made therein without departing fromthe spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appendedclaim.

What is claimed is: A picture holder comprising four (4) arms toconstitute an X-frame, a center bracket embracing the inner-ends of thearms and consistiin'g of two circular flanged cups to be coaxiallydisposed to face each other to grip the inner ends of *t'he'ai'msbetween the cup flanges, with an axial locking screw to hold the twocups together in position to grip the inner ends of the arms tightly, anextension bar slideably supported on each arm, a tension spring for eachupper extension bar with one end of the spring anchored on the extensionbar and the other end of the spring anchored on the axial locking screw,a flexible cord carried by said "center bracket and connected to eachlowerfextension bar for *adjustably positioning each lower 'extensionbar, and a clamp on each extension bar to grip a picture edge.

ERIC K. LO'I'IHKMMER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis ipatent:

UNITED sTA'rEsY-rxr'ems Number Name 'Date 236, 45 'sh'e'wiich Jan. is,1881 445,305 Tidball Jan. 2'7, I891 1,056,636 'Davison Maui's, "19131,388,956 KoZldwsky Au /30. 1921 1,860,323 Ebeling May '24, 1932

